INEC Holds 80 Court-Ordered Elections In 16 States Before March

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced that it will conduct eighty court-ordered elections in 16 states of the federation before March 19 this year.

A Decision Extract of the Commission shows that the elections will take place across sixteen states, ranging from Senatorial, Federal House of Representatives to House of Assembly elections.

A statement from the Commission today said that states in which the elections are scheduled to hold are Abia, Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Bayelsa, Benue, Cross River, Gombe, Imo, Kaduna, Kogi, Nasarawa, Niger, Plateau, Rivers and Taraba.

It said that a breakdown of the elections shows that ten will be for Senatorial Districts: seventeen for Federal House of Representatives; and fifty three for State Houses of Assembly.

A summary of the dates for the re-run elections is as follows:

1. Gombe state, 27^th January 2016; 2. Adamawa state, 13^th February 2016; Benue state, 20^th February 2016; Kaduna state, 20^th February 2016; Plateau state, 20^th February 2016; Niger state, 20^th February 2016; Nasarawa state, 20^th February 2016; Kogi state, 20^th February 2016; Taraba state, 20^th February 2016; Imo state, 20^th February 2016; Anambra state, 5^th March 2016; Bayelsa state, 5^th March 2016; Akwa Ibom state, 12 March 2016; Cross River state, 12^th March 2016; and Rivers state 19^th March 2016.

The re-run elections, the statement said, can also be categorized into two: supplementary/partial and whole, adding that there will be seventeen supplementary/partial re-run elections made up of one Senatorial, two Federal Constituencies and 14 State Constituency.

“There will be sixty three (63) whole elections to be conducted as follows: 8 Senatorial; 15 Federal Constituency and 40 State Constituency.

“The states affected by the re-run elections can be grouped into six (6), namely: Gombe state, 27^th January 2016; Adamawa, 13^th February 2016; Kaduna, Plateau, Niger, Benue, Nasarawa, Kogi, Taraba and Imo, 20^th February 2016; Abia, Anambra and Bayelsa, 5^th March 2016; Akwa Ibom and Cross Rivers, 12^th March  and River 19^th March 2016.

In a Public Notice issued and signed by the Secretary to the Commission, Mrs. Augusta C. Ogakwu, INEC said that consequent upon the judgments of the Court, the Commission will conduct the elections in 69 (sixty nine) of the said Constituencies with the same Political Parties and their respective candidates who participated in the annulled elections

The Commission further gave a list of the eleven other Constituencies, the Political Parties and Candidates who were entitled to participate.